Jon Rahm had issues with his driver during his third round at the DP World Tour’s Spanish Open in Madrid. It required repairs early on, so he had to go without it until the 14th hole.
But Rahm was unphased by this setback, saying it “didn’t really affect me too much.” Instead, he piped his 3-wood off the tees and paraded around the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, posting a 6-under 65. He had zero bogies and six birdies and now trails his countryman Angel Hidalgo by two through 54 holes.
“At the end of the day on this course, if you put it in the fairway, you’re always going to be better than hitting the driver offline. Did a pretty good job mitigating that,” Rahm said.
“But I was happy to get the driver as quickly back as I did. I just assumed I would play the rest of the round without it. I was happy to hear the news on 12 that I would have it by 14. I think it might have been what — I don’t know, just a little moment of happiness that gave me a little boost for the rest of the round.”
When Rahm received his driver on the 14th hole, he was already 4-under for his round. But he added two more birdies on the 16th and 18th holes to climb the leaderboard further.
Now he will head into Sunday’s final round looking for his fourth Spanish Open title, which would surpass the three wins that Seve Ballesteros—his idol—won during his illustrious career. A victory would mean the world to Rahm and Spanish golf as a whole.
Better yet, Rahm will be joined in the final pairing on Sunday by Hidalgo and David Puig, the 22-year-old Spaniard who left Arizona State to join LIV Golf in 2022.
“I’m very excited. I have yet to be paired with them on any tour or tournament. We play a lot at home, but it just hasn’t happened yet. I’m glad that our first time is going to be here in the final round and final group,” Rahm said.
“And hopefully, I can end up with the win, but it’s definitely going to be a Sunday atmosphere-wise that they haven’t experienced yet. There’s going to be a lot of people watching, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
